Distribution of Assets

How Assets are Distributed in a Riverside Estate

Are curious to know how estate planning can control how your assets will
be distributed upon your death? If yes, Riverside estate planning and
probate attorney,
Dennis M. Sandoval can help you!

Attorney Sandoval not only has over 30 years of experience in the legal
profession, but he is AV Preeminent® Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®,
he is included in California's selection of
Super Lawyers®, and he has a 10.0 Superb Avvo Rating. These accomplishments are
respected by his peers and a testament to the fact that he is entirely
committed to client satisfaction.

Asset Distribution With or Without a Will

With distributing an estate, there are several factors that come into play.
For instance, whether or not you're married or have children, whether
or not you have a
will or trust, and how title to your property is held.

Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a will, paying all
debts and claims against an estate, and distributing what's left to
the beneficiaries named in the will, or in the absence of a will, according
to state law. An estate may or may not need to go to probate depending
upon the amount of money involved, the type of property, how title is
held, and who is claiming the property.

The following types of property do not require probate proceedings because
they pass automatically to beneficiaries:

Property owned in joint tenancy, or community property with the right of
survivorship.

Bank accounts owned by several people.

Bank accounts with payable-on-death designations.

Transfer-on-death registration for securities.

Assets held in a trust.

Life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and investments with beneficiary
designations.

Probate is essentially for all property that passes through a will. All property
which passes through a trust or by means of a beneficiary designation,
is not subject to probate since it passes automatically to the survivor.
However, in some cases the survivor may need to take legal steps to clarify
his or her ownership of the transferred property.

When an estate is established with a will or a trust, or both, the distributions
will be made according to the terms set forth in the estate planning documents.
But, when a person dies without a will or a trust, their estate is distributed
according to California's intestate succession laws, which take effect
when someone dies without a will or without a legally valid will. In such
cases, the property is distributed to the decedent's closest relatives
according to a strict set of laws.

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.